Portfolio choices and hedge funds: a disappointment aversion analysis

The inclusion of hedge funds in large institutional portfolios is controversial. We use a disappointment aversion utility-based framework to investigate this issue. We empirically model the end-of-period wealth directly as opposed to the joint return distribution. This approach captures the interconnections between different asset categories without resorting to complex modeling. We observe that several hedge-fund strategies produce incremental economic benefits that generally weaken at higher levels of disappointment aversion. Portfolio weights are also constrained to match those of a generic pension fund. Results show that significant economic benefits are possible but only under restrictive conditions.